Former Connecticut Gov. John G. Rowland enters the Connecticut Financial Center after leaving federal court in New Haven, Conn., Friday, April 11, 2014, where he pleaded not guilty to federal charges from a seven-count indictment alleging campaign-finance-fraud charges in connection with $35,000 in laundered consultant money.

Photo: Autumn Driscoll

Former Connecticut Gov. John G. Rowland enters the Connecticut...

Image 2 of 18

Former Connecticut Gov. John G. Rowland signs in at the Connecticut Financial Center after leaving federal court in New Haven, Conn., Friday, April 11, 2014, where he pleaded not guilty to federal charges from a seven-count indictment alleging campaign-finance-fraud charges in connection with $35,000 in laundered consultant money.

Photo: Autumn Driscoll

Former Connecticut Gov. John G. Rowland signs in at the Connecticut...

Image 3 of 18

Media surround attorney Reid Weingarten as Connecticut Gov. John G. Rowland leaves federal court in New Haven, Conn., Friday, April 11, 2014, where he pleaded not guilty to federal charges from a seven-count indictment alleging campaign-finance-fraud charges in connection with $35,000 in laundered consultant money.

Members of the media wait for former Connecticut Gov. John G. Rowland's exit from federal court in New Haven, Conn., Friday, April 11, 2014, where he pleaded not guilty to federal charges from a seven-count indictment alleging campaign-finance-fraud charges in connection with $35,000 in laundered consultant money.

Photo: Autumn Driscoll

Members of the media wait for former Connecticut Gov. John G....

Image 5 of 18

Attorney Reid Weingarten leaves federal court in New Haven, Conn., after his client, former Connecticut Gov. John G. Rowland pleaded not guilty to federal charges from a seven-count indictment alleging campaign-finance-fraud charges in connection with $35,000 in laundered consultant money Friday, April 11, 2014.

Photo: Autumn Driscoll

Attorney Reid Weingarten leaves federal court in New Haven, Conn.,...

Image 6 of 18

Kaitlin A. Halloran, Esq. tries to shield former Governor John Rowland in the Bank of America building just after leaving the federal courthouse in downtown New Haven, Conn. on Friday April 11, 2014.

Photo: Christian Abraham

Kaitlin A. Halloran, Esq. tries to shield former Governor John...

Image 7 of 18

Former Connecticut Governor John Rowland leaves with his lawyer Kaitlin A. Halloran, Esq. outside the Connecticut Financial and Bank of America building in downtown New Haven, Conn. on Friday April 11, 2014. Earlier Rowland plead not guilty after being indicted at the federal courthouse next door.

Photo: Christian Abraham

Former Connecticut Governor John Rowland leaves with his lawyer...

Image 8 of 18

Former Connecticut Governor John Rowland hugs his lawyer Former Connecticut Governor John Rowland leaves with his lawyer Kaitlin A. Halloran, Esq. outside the Connecticut Financial and Bank of America building in downtown New Haven, Conn. on Friday April 11, 2014. Earlier Rowland plead not guilty after being indicted at the federal courthouse next door.

Photo: Christian Abraham

Former Connecticut Governor John Rowland hugs his lawyer Former...

Image 9 of 18

Reid Weingarten, lawyer for former Governor John Rowland, speaks to the media in front of the federal courthouse in downtown New Haven, Conn. on Friday April 11, 2014. Earlier Rowland plead not guilty after being indicted at the federal courthouse next door.

Photo: Christian Abraham

Reid Weingarten, lawyer for former Governor John Rowland, speaks to...

Image 10 of 18

Former Governor John Rowland inside the Connecticut Financial Center and Bank of America building just after leaving the federal courthouse in downtown New Haven, Conn. on Friday April 11, 2014.

Photo: Christian Abraham

Former Governor John Rowland inside the Connecticut Financial...

Image 11 of 18

A builing employee, left, and Kaitlin A. Halloran, Esq. tries to shield former Governor John Rowland in the Connecticut Financial Center and Bank of America building just after leaving the federal courthouse in downtown New Haven, Conn. on Friday April 11, 2014.

Photo: Christian Abraham

A builing employee, left, and Kaitlin A. Halloran, Esq. tries to...

Image 12 of 18

Former Connecticut Governor John Rowland leaves with his lawyer Kaitlin A. Halloran, Esq. outside the Connecticut Financial and Bank of America building in downtown New Haven, Conn. on Friday April 11, 2014. Earlier Rowland plead not guilty after being indicted at the federal courthouse next door.

Photo: Christian Abraham

Former Connecticut Governor John Rowland leaves with his lawyer...

Image 13 of 18

Media wait for former Governor John Rowland to exit the federal courthouse in downtown New Haven, Conn. on Friday April 11, 2014. Reid Weingarten, defense attorney for Rowland, spoke at the podium as Rowland left from a side entrance.

Photo: Christian Abraham

Media wait for former Governor John Rowland to exit the federal...

Image 14 of 18

John Rowland, the former governor of Connecticut, leaves a courthouse after pleading not guilty to a seven-count indictment, in New Haven, Conn., April 11, 2014. Rowland, who resigned 10 years ago in a corruption scandal, faces conspiracy charges after allegedly trying to hide his involvement in the 2010 and 2012 congressional campaigns.

Photo: ANDREW D. SULLIVAN, New York Times

John Rowland, the former governor of Connecticut, leaves a...

Image 15 of 18

Former Connecticut Gov. John G. Rowland arrives with attorney Reid Weingarten at federal court, Friday, April 11, 2014, in New Haven, Conn. A grand jury on Thursday returned a seven-count indictment alleging Rowland schemed to conceal involvement with congressional campaigns.

Photo: Contributed Photo, AP Photo/Jessica Hil

Former Connecticut Gov. John G. Rowland arrives with attorney Reid...

Image 16 of 18

Former Connecticut Gov. John G. Rowland, right, arrives with attorney Reid Weingarten at federal court, Friday, April 11, 2014, in New Haven, Conn. A grand jury on Thursday returned a seven-count indictment alleging Rowland schemed to conceal involvement with congressional campaigns.

Photo: Contributed Photo, AP Photo/Jessica Hil

Former Connecticut Gov. John G. Rowland, right, arrives with...

Image 17 of 18

Former Connecticut Gov. John G. Rowland arrives at federal court, Friday, April 11, 2014, in New Haven, Conn. A grand jury on Thursday returned a seven-count indictment alleging Rowland schemed to conceal involvement with congressional campaigns.

Photo: Contributed Photo, AP Photo/Jessica Hil

Former Connecticut Gov. John G. Rowland arrives at federal court,...

Image 18 of 18

Former Connecticut Gov. John G. Rowland collects his belt and brief case after going through security at federal court, Friday, April 11, 2014, in New Haven, Conn. A grand jury on Thursday returned a seven-count indictment alleging Rowland schemed to conceal involvement with congressional campaigns.

Photo: Contributed Photo, AP Photo/Jessica Hil

Former Connecticut Gov. John G. Rowland collects his belt and brief...

Reid Weingarten, a Washington defense lawyer brought in to fight the seven-count indictment to which Rowland pleaded not guilty, gave reporters a glimpse of his strategy after a brief appearance and not guilty plea before Senior U.S. District Judge Ellen Bree Burns.

"He had no responsibility whatsoever to file anything with the FEC," Weingarten said during a 2½-minute statement on the courthouse sidewalk.

"She has been allowed to plead to a misdemeanor," Weingarten said of Wilson-Foley. "He, while working for her husband and doing real work, is facing 37 years of potential prison for a case involving her FEC returns."

Back in the same federal court where he admitted to corruption charges in 2004, Rowland pleaded not guilty here in connection with $35,000 in laundered consultant money. The hearing, which set bond at $250,000 and scheduled a court date for June, lasted about 10 minutes in an ornate, second-floor courtroom.

Rowland, 56, had been expected to deny the changes announced in an indictment Thursday evening.

Media: Connecticut Post
Reid Weingarten, lawyer for former Governor John Rowland, speaks to the media in front of the federal courthouse in downtown New Haven, Conn. on Friday April 11, 2014. Earlier Rowland pled not guilty after being indicted at the federal courthouse.

The case will be pursued by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Liam Breenan and Christopher M. Mattei. The accumulated penalties could add up to 57 years in prison for the former three-term governor, who last week abruptly resigned from his job as a radio personality on WTIC 1080-AM in Hartford.

Wearing a black suit with charcoal stripes, Rowland walked to a podium before Burns at about 2:25 p.m. and answered a series of questions, including a few reminders that he had the right to remain silent. Weingarten stood by his side as Rowland said, "Yes, your honor," over and over.

Rowland waived the reading of the criminal indictment implicating him with two schemes to hide his proposed role in the 5th District congressional campaign in 2010 that was declined by candidate Mark Greenberg; and the 2012 campaign work for Wilson-Foley, whose husband, Brian Foley, allegedly paid Rowland for nominal work at his chain of nursing homes. They both recently pleaded guilty and face year-long prison terms.

Related Stories

After Weingarten said the basics of the charges did not have to be read aloud in court, Brennan stood and insisted that the occasion required they be outlined for the record. The trial was tentatively scheduled for June 10.

"I will be entering that order this afternoon," said Burns, who ascended her desk slowly, with the assistance of a cane.

"We are eager to go to trial," Weingarten said.

"I enjoy trials," said Burns, 90, a senior judge since 1992. "It should be an interesting one."

A few minutes later, out on the sidewalk in front of a dozen TV cameras, 20 photographers and as many reporters, Weingarten discounted the major charges against Rowland, including the conspiracy that resulted in the recent guilty pleas of Wilson-Foley and Foley, who tried to keep Rowland's controversial name from public FEC reports.

"We have very strong reactions to these charges," Weingarten told reporters. "For all intents and purposes, Gov. Rowland is charged with being improperly involved in two separate campaigns.

"For the first campaign, he is charged with obstruction of justice, carrying a 20-year potential prison sentence. There is absolutely no allegation that Gov. Rowland worked on that campaign, that Gov. Rowland received any money in connection with that campaign, that any documents were submitted to the Department of Justice or the FEC. No allegations of that whatsoever.

"The second campaign is identified as Lisa Foley's. In that instance, the allegation is that she, the candidate, had an obligation to disclose to the FEC in her legally mandated reports that Gov. Rowland was helping her. ... We will have an aggressive challenge to these charges. We are looking forward to it. Most of all, we're looking forward to this trial. And we fully expect our client to be fully vindicated."

While Weingarten was talking with reporters, Rowland left the courthouse by a side door, then walked about 30 yards, followed by a half-dozen photographers, to an adjacent office building, where he registered bail details with federal probation officers.

The New Haven courthouse is the location of Rowland's December 2004 guilty plea for corruption, six months after he resigned under the heat of an impeachment inquiry and a ruling from the state Supreme Court ordering him to testify before a special committee of the state House of Representatives.

Rowland served 10 months in prison and was released in February 2006, followed by four months of house arrest and three years of supervised release through federal probation officials.